Tag: Sun Spots

Sun Spots Kickstarter is Finished

Well, it’s been a long haul, but the Sun Spots Kickstarter has finally delivered all its materials to all of its backers. I’ll need to do a debrief of the overall project at some point, but in short I think it went well overall and I was very happy and encouraged by the responses of my backers. They were all great people and very supportive and encouraging. I think Doc would be proud.

If you have yet to purchase Sun Spots, it is, of course, up on DTRPG and you can find it here. You can also find the GM Kit here, which offers some digital props to accent your running of the game. The book is definitely large and has a TON of illustrations, especially by Reuben Dodd, who worked his ass off to create a great vibe of the town Red Valley and its residents. But really everyone worked their asses off and the book really shows it. I’m quite proud of it.

As for the future, I already have a number of projects lined up of which I’ll be talking about at length soon enough. Thanks again for checking out my blog, which has been a bit neglected lately. Or maybe it was always neglected. Either way, check back and I’ll let you know what’s going on.

And… We’re Back

In brief, we have turned the corner passed all the craziness (well, most of it anyway), and am back into full creative mode. Two things of note:

  1. The PDF for my Call of Cthulhu scenario Sun Spots is now available on DrivethruRPG here. We’re working feverishly on the physical copies of the books and props.
  2. I am writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for those in the know). The idea is to write 50k in one month, and while I’m off to a slow start, progress is being made. I’m trying to post to both Facebook and Twitter on my progress, so you can follow there. The book I’m working on is called The Tunnel, and has been gestating for a long, long time. It’s exciting to finally be working on it.

Otherwise, per my efforts with The Tunnel and Sun Spots, I’m making a more concerted effort to keep this place updated not only with my efforts, but add some value by demonstrating the process of my attempts at self-publishing both RPGs and novels. So expect a lot more around that soon.

Onward!

Sun Spots to be Published for Call of Cthulhu

Weird 8 Becomes Chaosium Licensee — Sun Spots to be Published for Call of Cthulhu

Kickstarter Will Launch Thursday Sept 15th and Be Updated for 7th Edition Rules

Sun Spots is now an officially licensed Chaosium Call of Cthulhu® scenario and will be published for the recently released 7th edition of the rules. The Kickstarter for this scenario, originally scheduled for September 13th, will begin two days later on Thursday, September 15th, and will otherwise continue as planned. chaosium_logo

“With our new edition recently released, we need high quality Call of Cthulhu scenarios to meet the pent up demand for new stuff to play. Sun Spots promises to fit that bill nicely, ” Chaosium vice president Michael O’Brien said.

Sun Spots was originally written and designed by Dave Sokolowski as a Call of Cthulhu scenario for Miskatonic River Press, so will require very little effort to publish as a stand-alone CoC scenario. Furthermore, conversion notes for both Cthulhu Dark and Trail of Cthulhu will be published for free on Weird8.com once the scenario is complete.

The updated press release for Sun Spots with details on the scenario, its art, and storied history can be found here.

 

Press Release for Sun Spots — Kickstarter Launches Sept 15

New Stand-alone Horror RPG Book Launching on Kickstarter Sept. 15th — Sun Spots

Scenario Hearkens Back to Old School Cthulhu Gaming

Dave Sokolowski, author of 2014’s successful Kickstarter scenario He Who Laughs Last, and contributor to both SixtyStone Press’ Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion and Golden Goblin Press’ Tales of the Caribbean, is launching his second Kickstarter to seek funding for his Roaring-20s era Call of Cthulhu® scenario, Sun Spots. The Kickstarter will go live on Thursday, September 15, 2016, and seeks a funding goal of $5000.

This scenario was written under the guidance of long-time Call of Cthulhu editor and writer, Keith “Doc” Herber, before his untimely death in 2009, and brings multiple elements from older Cthulhu games, including long-time artists like Jason Eckhardt, a period-accurate layout and design by Gregory G. Geiger, and the guiding philosophy of Herber, who worked with Sokolowski to make sure the scenario was unique in its approach of the Cthulhu Mythos.

“Dave Sokolowski’s Sun Spots harkens back to the classic Call of Cthulhu scenarios that we all love and dials up the danger with a number of intriguing twists including a new take on an old god,” said Stuart Boon, author of the award-winning Call of Cthulhu book Shadows over Scotland. “Detailed, multi-layered, and engaging, Sun Spots shines with interesting characters, nefarious plots, and ancient evil. Sokolowski has another winner on his hands.”

The scenario has a storied past, with the original draft being written in 2007-09 under Herber’s guidance as it was prepared for Misktatonic River Press’ The Outer Gods book. Although the first draft was approved by Herber with a “I think we have a winner here, and one with a lot of fun possibilities. Nice job…,” Herber sadly died in March 2009, leaving The Outer Gods to never see the light of day. And while both MRP and SixtyStone Press aimed to publish Sun Spots at some point, it was only recently that Sokolowski regained the rights to the scenario and decided to publish it via Kickstarter.

To bring this scenario to life, Sokolowski has collaborated with two key artists who will provide a unique look and feel to the whole project. Both Jason Eckhardt (artist for multiple Call of Cthulhu books, including Escape from Innsmouth, which was edited by Herber) and Reuben Dodd (More Adventures in Arkham Country by GGP, among many others) will provide multiple drawings to help bring life to life to the scenario. The cover was illustrated by Chris Huth (Pelgrane Press’ Ashen Stars and Night’s Black Agents), while cartographer Jake Coolidge has completed large and small-scale maps for the scenario, including a hand-drawn map of the town’s many locations.

Sun Spots has been play-tested multiple times, and it will launch on Kickstarter September 15th with the scenario, cover and many art pieces complete. The Kickstarter campaign will feature the PDF available for $10, a softcover print copy available for $30 and a deluxe and signed hardcover for $70. The Kickstarter page is available in preview now:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davesokolowski/1336129788?token=faed937b

 

About the Game:

Fans of traditional Lovecraft scenarios will find that the extended scenario has an unusual take on one of the Outer Gods that will challenge both players and game masters with a broad, sandbox environment for investigating myriad unusual occurrences. Originally designed for the 6th edition of Call of Cthulhu, Sun Spots will be updated for the recently released 7th edition of the CoC rules. The story drops a group of investigators into the middle of a New England snowstorm in 1925, where a local banker seeks help retrieving his daughter, Susan, from a remote resort town. Things just get weirder from there.

Nearly 28,000 words have been written for this scenario, allowing for a long and satisfying exploration of the resort town of Red Valley, which is hiding rival archaeologists, ancient magics of the Hyperboreans, and a sun that may never set. Herber had this to say as the first draft was finished: “Lots of characters, and I think you did a really good job with them. A lot of writers can only come up with a handful of the usual cliches. This place seems to be populated by real human beings, and lots of them. Kudos.”

Are you willing to take the case and see why Susan refuses to leave Red Valley? Find out what ancient secrets lie at the heart of Sun Spots.

Preparing Sun Spots Kickstarter

Well, it’s official — I’m gearing up to launch the Sun Spots Kickstarter on Tuesday, September 13th! Right now, I’m busily running around behind the scenes, getting all my PR in place, writing press releases, finding play-testers, reading online resources, and basically just trying not to freak out about the whole thing.

Because now there are expectations. Expectations! I’ve already had one successful KS project, and I really want to outdo that one in many ways. Furthermore, I started working on this book nine years ago (2007! that’s BEFORE Obama was elected!), and to have it see the light of day and be finished will really be a significant event in my life. Like I said, lots and lots of expectations.

As I’m going around reading different resources for how to run better Kickstarters (these and these have been particularly helpful), I realized that I had written my own lessons learned at the start of 2015, when I thought (incorrectly) that I was gearing up for Sun Spots early last year. You can read about it here, and as I’ve been working on this project anew, I’ve come to understand more about what I was talking about:

  1. Prepare Stretch Goals Ahead of Time: Absolutely. This is perhaps the most important lesson of them all. I still feel bad for Ben Patey, purveyor of the infamous Masks of Nyarlathotep Props Kickstarter. See, Ben contacted me before his project went live; I had purchased his props directly from him, he was thinking about doing the KS and had seen how my project was successful, so he reached out to me for a phone conversation. My most important lesson was to WATCH YOUR PROJECT SCOPE, specifically your stretch goals, because this is where most projects fumble the ball — they don’t know how to scale their projects, end up committing to way too much, and ultimately fail. And then Ben went and had too many goals and wasn’t able to scale, ultimately failing. So this is a huge lesson and one I’ve taken to heart. Fortunately, due to all these problems, backers are less eager for stretch goals, and I’ve been prepping just a few, key goals to add to the project.
  2. Be Very Clear About Int’l Shipping: I’m not sure this ever got better, but I did look up the rates for DriveThruRPG POD shipping and found this chart to be extremely helpful. Fact is, international shipping is still a drag, and will be until the technology for shipping overseas radically changes. The key, then, is just to be clear about how much it costs you, how much it costs your backers, and what you’ll be charging them.
  3. Find Collaborators Ahead of Time: This is a great idea, and something I’ve already thought about. But I’ll want to wait until I’m a little closer to launch before finding active KS projects to collaborate with. I found this great link, which easily sorts the active RPG games live on KS for you. So that’s something to always be checking.
  4. Shorten the Project Length: After some back and forth, I’ve decided to run my project from Sept 13 to Oct 9, which is 27 days. I think this is the right amount, and the start and end days line up with best practices suggested by Jamey Stegmaier and Fred Hicks. And it’s shorter, which aligns with my own needs and observations. While it’s not a lot shorter, I’ve been thoughtful in my planning and am happy with it.

So that’s it! The Kickstarter is getting primed behind the scenes, and I’m running around like a busy little bee. I really can’t wait to share the book with everyone — the art, production, design and maps, not to mention the writing itself — are really top notch and will be amazing once put together. I can’t wait for you to see it!

New Kickstarter “Sun Spots” is coming in September

Things are finally underway! Again! Less than two months until I kick off the Kickstarter for my Cthulhu Dark scenario “Sun Spots” and momentum is gathering as we speak.

Here are components of the project that are already complete:

  • The core text, playtested multiple times (~27k words)
  • The cover art by Chris Huth
  • Multiple interior illustrations by Jason Eckhardt
  • Interior art by Caleb Cleveland

Furthermore, I am already assembling the following items to be ready for the Kickstarter launch:

  • Interior art by Reuben Dodd
  • Blind playtesting
  • Layout and design by Gregory Geiger
  • Maps, including one hand-drawn, by Jake Coolidge
  • Interviews and press
  • Budget, pledge levels and possible stretch goals
  • Tentative “Director’s Cut” version of the book

So everything is coming together for the actual book. The video for the launch is nearly done, as is much of the art for the project page. I’ve got plans under way, and deadlines on the calendar. And over the coming weeks I will post here regularly, sharing planning and providing visibility into the project itself.

I can’t wait to share more with you. In the meantime, read some previews here.

What I’m Working On

I’ve been a bit silent here lately and not without good reason. Things have been very busy not only with real life but with my writing life as well. So I wanted to take this moment and update my blog on what I’ve been working on…

But first, I wanted to talk a little about real life. Last month I started working at Apple, going back to JIRA administration as a full time job. The most important part of this pertains to how program management and working in a larger role (with more responsibilities) really seemed to sap my energies and take from my abilities to write consistently. With my new job, I certainly work hard, but I have a lot of time at my desk, working, as opposed to spending my days in meetings, getting people to do their jobs. It was a critical change for me to move away from a more intense role and to a position that allowed me to process my work and get things done during the day.

Now I come home and have still have mental energy, so I can wake up refreshed and ready to write. This has been a great change for me and I’m very excited for my new opportunity. Back to my current writing projects…

1. Recently I finished a first draft of a Call of Cthulhu scenario for the upcoming Golden Goblin Press Kickstarter, Tales of the Caribbean. It was a unique honor to be approached by Oscar Rios and asked to submit a proposal for a Caribbean scenario. It was an even greater honor when they accepted my proposal! So I was on the hook, and got to work immediately (this was last fall). But then work got really busy and my mental space got gobbled up (see above) and I put off writing for far too long. There was a convergence in the late spring when I realized I needed to get a new job, partly because I wasn’t writing at all! But the new job came through, and I quickly retooled my lifestyle to get back to writing. So the first draft has been delivered. Lots of work still left, but the big effort is complete.

2. While my scenario He Who Laughs Last was delivered last summer, I still have one remaining stretch goal — a fictionalized version of the scenario.  I have it mostly outlined and some of it written, but still need to just sit down and write the damn thing. If I had been more productive last winter, it would already be done. But I aim to finish it soon because…

3. I am poised to launch my next Kickstarter on July 26th, 2015, for my Cthulhu Dark scenario Sun Spots. This scenario is actually 95% complete already, and there is much history to this project that I started in 2007. Suffice to say that I’m very excited to finally have this see the light of day. You will definitely hear more about this very soon. But even though the writing is done, there is a ton of project management and preparation for this next KS project. I’ve learned a lot from my previous project and aim to make this one even more successful. Stay tuned.

So that’s it — a lot on my plate and I’m really looking forward to moving through it all. I hope you’re as excited as I am about Sun Spots (and the Caribbean scenario as well), and I can’t wait to share more. Soon!